Reflektor – A decade after achieving worldwide success, Arcade Fire is back with a two-disk album just as urgent and inventive as anything they’ve ever made. “If this is heaven / I need something more,” Win Butler and Régine Chassagne whisper on the opening titular track, and it’s true–here they’ve eschewed the bright folksy sounds of their previous effort, The Suburbs, in favor of a sonic palette that is decidedly much darker, much denser, and much, much dancier. While the record never quite reaches the dizzying emotional heights of Funeral‘s “Wake Up” or Suburbs‘ “We Used To Wait,” every single tune packs a wallop of Arcade’s signature combination of catchy beats and biting social commentary. Standout tracks include “Here Comes The Night Time”–part Haitian drum circle, part Talking Heads groove–as well as “Normal Person”–a straight rock rage against authority tailor made for jumping up and down–and “Supersymmetry,” the album’s soft ballad closer that proves the band is perfectly capable of placing you in a hypnotic trance when they’re not busy blowing your hair back. 4/5stars.